Dig the new look?

May I just point out that this is a redesign in progress? This is not the final look, okay?


January 30th, 2010
Photoshop and drawingtablet

Uncia is one of my oldest OCs. I made the big lug up back when I was in high school. Such a cool guy. I mean, sheesh... Since he's one of my oldest OCs, he still has a lot of those beginner's mistakes in him. Overpowered. Design based on clichés and overly popular characters from whatever you were into when you first made them up. You know what I mean.

Whenever I describe Uncia to other people, I jokingly refer to his has the horse-sized lion, with the cute little tiger ears, the three fox tails and the SSY3 haircut. I mean, how is that NOT a masterpiece in design? Really.

It's strange when I think about it, but Uncia's design hasn't changed too much since I first made him up. You know how some people keep redesigning their characters over and over again? Yeah. I didn't do that for Uncia. I mean, not for long. He used to look like a lion-sized cat, with bobcat/lynx features and a Triforce mark on his forehead (don't ask). It's didn't take him too long to then evolve into this ([link]). And that's when the design pretty much petrified. I'm not too sure why, since I have redesigned my other OCs in the past. Maybe Uncia just sparks my melancholic side; reminds me of when I was still... just plain BAD at designing characters. Maybe a part of me still likes the crazy old design, simply because I'm used to it. But the thing is that I don't think the old design really suits my art style anymore. I'm no longer influenced by the same things as when I first designed Uncia. I think he had too many Wapanese features or something.

So I've tried my hand at redesigning him. The Uncia art I've received from other people over the years has actually helped me in terms of getting ideas for his new look, and this is the result. I'm trying to get him to look slightly more natural, though not too much. I'm trying to still make him look as if he stepped out of a fanciful bestiary. The manes in particular are giving me trouble, because I really don't want him to have true lion manes. Something still looks off. Maybe I should give him more shoulder ruff or something, like young cheetahs have. And I'm also not completely sure yet whether or not I like to have markings on the tawny version (Blue has the stripes, obviously). I am pretty happy with the body proportions and the tails. As far as I'm concerned fox tails are a thing of the past!

So yeah, long story short: I'm trying to redesign Uncia to suit where I currently stand as an artist, but I am also still trying to keep him recognizable as Uncia. Work in progress. And I forgot to draw the whiskers again...

References used: [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link] [link]